System and method for knitting shoe uppers

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods for manufacturing knitted shoe uppers. An article of fully finished three-dimensionally weft knitted footwear is manufactured through a knitting process which can be performed by an automated V-bed flat knitting machine. The knitting process includes manipulating one or more double-knit stitch types and joining the stitches exclusively in the knitting process to create a seamless upper to fit a foot. A resulting upper advantageously has no sewn seams and requires no manual post process to cut or sew the upper to create the dimensional shape. The process creates a seamless, full gauge, dimensionally stable footwear upper, as a unitary textile construction with an integrated anatomically appropriate heel. The entire upper, including the closure element of the upper, may be completed exclusively by the knitting machine, ready for the following shoe making process.

PRIORITY

This application is a divisional of, and claims the benefit of priorityto, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/400,933 filed May 1, 2019, ofthe same title, which claims the benefit of priority to U.S. ProvisionalPatent Application Ser. No. 62/665,929 filed May 2, 2018 and entitled“METHOD FOR KNITTING A SHOE UPPER”, the contents of each of theforegoing being incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

COPYRIGHT

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains materialthat is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has noobjection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent documentor the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and TrademarkOffice patent files or records, but otherwise reserves all copyrightrights whatsoever.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE 1. Technological Field

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to footwearmanufacturing, and more specifically, to the field of knittingmechanisms for manufacturing footwear uppers.

2. Description of Related Technology

Frequently, a fabric or a textile is used as a shoe upper of an athleticshoe, a casual shoe, sandal, or other type of shoe with a structuralrequirement to hold a foot to the sole. A textile may be defined as anymanufacture from fibers, filaments, or yarns characterized byflexibility, fineness, and a high ratio of length to thickness. Thematerials forming the upper may be selected based upon the properties ofwear-resistance, flexibility, stretch, and air-permeability, forexample.

The shoe upper may be formed by a method of cutting and sewing, andtherefore cut from numerous fabric material elements, which each mayimpart different properties to specific portions of the upper. Thiscutting and sewing method creates considerable waste, that may or maynot be able to be recycled.

In the shoe manufacturing process, it is generally desirable to minimizethe number and types of materials in the article of footwear,particularly athletic footwear. Using fewer materials reduces costs andincreases efficiency, given that shoe manufacture is a labor-intensiveprocess. A typical shoe manufacturing process encompasses the steps ofselecting the material, cutting the upper material components to shape,reducing the thickness of the joining edges (“skiving”) for leather orsynthetic leather, reducing the thickness of the upper pieces(“splitting”), laminating by adhesive or glue the interlining to theupper pieces (“interlining”), forming the eyelets, grommet the eyeletsif required by the design, stitching the upper pieces together, shapingthe upper over a last (“lasting”), sewing the edges of the upper,stitching (“Strobeling”) the upper to a liner (“insole lining”), frontpart molding of the upper on the last, back part molding of the upper onthe last, molding or sewing the bottom of the shoes to the upper(“bottoming”), and setting the materials and adhesives in a heat tunnel.Modern footwear designs, principally athletic shoe designs, requirenumerous upper pieces and complicated manufacturing steps, leading tohigh labor costs, lengthy time frames for sourcing materials, fabriccompatibility issues, seam compatibility issues, and production waste inthe cutting process. Combining separate materials into a cut and sewtype upper involves multiple distinct manufacturing stages requiringmultiple labor actions and activities. Employing a plurality materialsand seams, in addition to a plurality of textiles, may also make thefootwear heavier, less comfortable, and less anatomically functional.

Conventional knitted footwear uppers have seams, typically at the heel,at medical arch, or at other places on the foot. Seams createundesirable pressure points on the foot, resulting in blisters and otherirritations as well as potential structural failure points. Conventionalknitted footwear created without seams, are typically sock-likejersey-based fabrics, which require additional reinforcement materialsto be applied to the upper to stabilize the skewing jersey fabric.Adding additional materials, internally and or externally, requiressourcing, purchasing, color matching, warehousing the materials, thencutting, scrapping waste, creating sub-assemblies, bundling,coordinating, and applying the materials in one or more locations postprocesses. The potentials for error and scrap waste in each step aresubstantial.

Conventional knitting of footwear uppers which are shaped using currentdouble-bed seamless fabrications fit poorly, due to the limitations ofthe currently used short rowing technique to create an angled heel. Itusually results in an acute heel angle that is less than anatomicallyappropriate. FIG. 1A is a diagram demonstrating the parts and angle of anormal heel on a human foot as compared to its sole and or a flatsurface. FIG. 1B is a diagram of the grain lines of the heel and body ofa seamless article of footwear produced on a two-needle-bed knittingmachine with double bed fabric using short rowing according to theconventional art. FIG. 1C is a loop diagram of the heel area of aknitted to shape three-dimensional semi-finished textile upper usingshort rowing according to the conventional art. 31 in FIG. 1C showsacute heel angle results from short row loops.

A less than appropriate heel angle may dramatically affect fit andcomfort by creating pressure, pain, inflammation, swelling, anddiscomfort to the soft tissue of the foot including the plantar fascia,heel pad, Achilles tendon, skin of the calcaneal area, as well as otherareas of the foot. Such a heel may cause blisters, injury to the skinand Achilles tendon itself, as well as affect gait and expand discomfortto legs, hips, back, and neck. Stiff materials amplify poor fit,especially in the heel area. Washing, sweat, and or accidental wettingof the upper in shoe form, typically contracts the angle further.

Current methods of knitting wire, cables and other spooled aesthetic orreinforcing materials, using standard knitting machinery and standardfeed systems have difficulty with unpackaging spools of materials. Thestrands twist on themselves and cause several issues varying inseverity: breakage of the strand, production down time, damaged product,damaged machine parts, including needles, stop motions, knock oververges, sinkers, wires and other costly machine parts. Simple productsusing one or two strand feeds, that are fed into a standard knittingmachine are possible using expensive additional unspooling equipmentavailable from knitting machine manufacturers. However, knitting a morecomplex structure, using more than two unspooled strand feeds onstandard machine builder equipment is currently not possible.

Weft knitting refers to the construction of fabric by feeding yarn andforming loops in the horizontal (“weft”) direction. The term “V-bedknitting,” “V-bed flat knitting” describes a weft knitting process byfeeding yarn and forming loops, with at least two opposing needle beds,where latch needles and other elements are selected and slide during theknitting process, to engage strands of material and thereby create afabric. FIG. 2A is a diagram of weft knitting, and the horizontaldirections by which strands are inserted into fabric and entangled tocreate ‘weft’ knit fabric. FIG. 2B is a diagram of latch needles used inweft knitting, engaging the strands, which are inserted into theknitting machine, the fabric technical jersey knit face and technicaljersey purl back created on either a front or a rear needle bed. Asillustrated in FIG. 2B, there is typically a technical face 24 and atechnical back 25 to the fabric, and a grain, indicated by the directionof the loops.

FIG. 3A is a side view diagram of the positioning of the needle beds andlatch needles of a two-needle bed flat V-bed knitting machine. In V-bedflat knitting, the needle beds are positioned at an angle resembling a“V.” Each V needle bed 3 has a set of needles 4. FIG. 3B is a side viewdiagram of the positioning of the needle beds and latch needles in afour-needle bed machine, with a two-needle bed flat V-bed and twoadditional auxiliary beds and transfer points. Four needle bed machines,such as the Shima Seiki Mach2X and the H. Stoll AG & Co. KG 730T, andthe 530T Electronic flat knitting machines, have two needle beds 3 awith hundreds of needles 4 a, and additionally have auxiliary needlebeds 5 with hundreds of fashioning points and or needles 6 (or auxiliaryneedle points). These needles on the auxiliary needle beds 5 correspondto the same spacing and occurrence of needles 4 a in the beds below 3 a.

FIG. 3C is a side view diagram of the positioning of the needle beds andlatch needles of a two-needle bed flat V-bed knitting machine with twoadditional auxiliary beds and transfer points, yarn rails, yarn feeders,yarn strand cone packages, strands feeding into the machine. Duringoperation, in both the two needle bed machines and the four needle bedsmachines, strands of material 8 on cones 11 or spools are fed intofeeders 10. Several feeders are located on each machine and run alongrails 9 that are arranged in a horizontal direction. The strands runthrough the feeders and are manipulated by the feeders both along thelength of a preprogrammed length of the needle beds 3 a and in thehorizontal (weft) direction. At the same time, the knitting needlesoperate to interlace of the strands into loops. The resulting fabric 7exits the machine under the needle beds.

FIG. 3D is a front view diagram of an automated V-bed flat weft knittingmachine. The electronic knitting machine 350 can be programmedautomatically to select the needles and other elements via themechanical and or a digital instruction process. Users can shape fabricsand combine yarns on V-Bed flat knitting machines by utilizing manytechniques, including: plaiting, intarsia, striping, jacquard, cable,jacquard, welt, fully fashioning, flesage (wedge-knitting),short-rowing, and other techniques.

Conventionally, there are three main approaches to shaping of V-bed weftknitted fabric into a shoe upper: cut and sew, fully-fashioned, andwhole garment technique. Cut and sew technique involves cutting fabric(usually roll goods or fabric blocks) and sewing the cut pieces tofashion an upper. FIG. 4A is a diagram of two-dimensional roll goodswith two-dimensional footwear upper pattern pieces to be cut andassociated waste material in accordance with the conventional art. Thesesemi-finished textile components are made into finished uppers bycombining the knitting process and additional finishing processes suchas: knitting two-dimensional rectangular textiles, knitted as plainfabric or with a shoe motif, then die cutting to the respective footwearshape, finishing raw edges, and sewing into a complete upper with a seamclosing up the heel, toe flex, or medial arch. Cutting creates scrap,and requires readying cut pieces for the production process, includingsorting, retarding fraying, coordinating timing, lot matching, andbundling. Undesirably, the cut and sew method generates a significantamount of scrap waste, is labor intensive, and the stitching results inbulky seams.

FIG. 4B is a diagram of a knitted-to-shape three-dimensional footwearupper with one or more knit textures according to a conventionalfully-fashioned approach. The fully-fashioned approach knittingsemi-finished panels to shape in two or three-dimensions, and thenassembling the shaped pieces in a post process.

Seams create potential points of functional failure while also creatingpotential pressure points on the foot, resulting in blisters and otherperformance and or user irritations. In the case of knitting radarabsorbing materials, carbon fiber, fiber reinforcing materials,stainless steel, polyurethane coated, or other stiff fibers, thesepotential problems are increased at the seam points.

In the weft-knitting technique, there are various ways developed toreduce seams, which have been applied to knitting footwear uppers intoone piece, rather than the typical leather-industry based process ofassembling three to five components into an upper. A widely employedmanufacturing technique to eliminate seams and increase the likelihoodof a left upper matching a right upper, is by knitting the upper designinto two-dimensional roll-good fabric (as show in FIG. 4A), cuttingaround the design, and assembling.

One such hybrid manufacturing method that can reduce seams is knitting atwo-dimensionally U-shaped fabric format (fully-fashioned), optionallydie cutting the tongue area, finishing raw edges, and sewing into acomplete upper with a seam closing up the heel, toe flex, or medialarch. FIG. 4C is a diagram of a knitted to shape two-dimensionalfootwear upper with one or more knit textures according to aconventional hybrid approach.

Another hybrid technique employed in upper manufacturing is knitting atwo-dimensional upper to shape in a butterfly format, as shown in FIG.4B, and then sewing to close up the heel, toe flex, or medial arch inone or more post processes; knitting three-dimensional seamless,finished unitary upper construction with integrated components, andsewing to close up the heel, toe flex, or medial arch in one or morepost processes.

Shaping courses in textile knitting and in the fully-fashioned uppersdescribed above (FIGS. 4B and 4C) is achieved with: short-rowing, addingor dropping needles, transferring stitches, holding stitches on analternate needle bed, with needles or fashion points and relocating themto a new position. Fully fashioning an upper saves considerablematerial, but the fully-fashioned upper still requires a post process tofinish the upper to be ready for the shoe making process.

In fashioning an upper on a two-needle bed flat knitting machine, atypical wedge knitting (or short rowing) technique is used to turn theheel grain (as shown in FIG. 1C), and other portions of the upper, suchas the toe, instep, and ankle area. However, the fabric shaping ontwo-needle bed machines by using short row knitting (31 in FIG. 1C) islimited by: increasing or decreasing by one needle wide, by one needlehigh at a time, and consequently creating an acute angle which issubject to variations in materials. Short-rowing cannot make a rightangle. Increasing or decreasing by more than one needle wide by oneneedle high creates stress on the knitting strand and the knittingneedles in pulling a long loop (as shown by 31 in FIG. 1C), which spansa space two or more times longer and wider, than the original loop. Theresult is a fail in knitting and or a high stress fault line in thefabric that may not endure abrasion, tensile stretch and recovery, orthe shoe making process. Opacity may also be an issue with stretchingloops farther than one stitch width at a time. Utilizing this shortrowing technique creates a semifinished upper (as shown in FIG. 4B),which requires a seam to join the sides to complete the upper's shape.

Seamless double-bed knitted uppers can be created by knitting theaforementioned short rowing technique. FIG. 4D is a loop diagram showingthe heel area of a seamless article of footwear produced on atwo-needle-bed knitting machine with double bed fabric using the shortrowing technique. Shaping typically starts at the heel, which limits theangle 36 of the heel to between thirty-five and seventy degrees, muchsmaller than the approximate ninety degrees from the body of the upper(which is the horizontal orientation when the footwear is worn by auser), as indicated by the direction of upper short row grains 35 andthe direction of the heel short row grains 36. Depending upon thematerial qualities, the angle of the heel and other areas of currentdouble bed uppers are limited by mechanical transferring constraints oftwo-bed flat-knitting machinery, and also the structure of double bedfabrics in general.

Utilizing short rowing, there is no transfer of double-bed fabric loops,only the addition of new rows of loops in a wedge like shape (as shownin FIG. 4D), which is a standard and historically used weft-knittingtechnique. Unfortunately, short rowing technique distorts the fabricgrain on an angle. The accuracy of repeating the angle is subject tomany variations including: material qualities, dye content of yarns,elasticity of yarn, size of yarn strand, tightness of the stitches,calibration of the machine, and other factors affecting material andmachine consistency. The short row angle is limited by one needle in theX direction and by one needle in the Y direction, as described above.Moving more than that may stretch loops and create potential failurepoints.

FIG. 5 is a technical loop diagram of transferring techniques used inhalf-gauge tubular knitting to widen a tube on a flat knitting machine.Knitting tubes is another standard and historical technique for weftknitting uppers, which has been utilized on both circular weft-knittingmachines and flat V-bed knitting. Sock-like seamless tube structurescreated on modern V-bed flat knitting machinery are typically madeutilizing two needle beds, and employ a half-gauge knitting technique16, which includes knitting alternating needles on opposing needle bedsin order to manipulate loops back and forth to empty needles of theopposing bed. In half-gauge, each needle with a loop in one bed has anempty receiving needle in the opposing bed to which loops may be moved.Diagram 17 shows half gauge transfer to the front and diagram 18 showshalf gauge transfer to the rear.

The manipulation requires the machine to rack one needle bed to alignopposing needles for transfer, as shown in diagram 18. All stitches thenreside on a single needle bed, as shown in diagram 19. As shown indiagram 20, to widen the tube, one needle bed then racks one or moreneedle positions, transfers half of the stitches which previouslyresided on the opposing bed, which are also on one side of the tube totheir new positions on the opposing needle bed. The machine then repeatsthe transferring of the remaining half of the stitches, which previouslyresided on the opposing bed, racking in the opposite direction (as shownin diagram 21), and placing them in their new position on the opposingneedle bed. This manipulation of stitches creates the shaping, narrowingor widening (diagram 22 shows the result of widening) of the upper, withsmall fashion marks, where the narrowing occurs due to placing two loopsin the same hook, and small holes, where the widening occurs 22. Theopen spaces creating in widening (diagram 22) are then knitted in thenext row of knitting. The resulting fabrication is two facing half-gaugejersey fabrics 16, each being a single bed fabric, having similarstructure of a sock with an interior purl face and an exterior knitface. This type of widening and narrowing technique is also used for theknitting of current sock-like seamless tubular structures on V-bed flatknitting machinery with four needle beds. Diagram 23 shows transfer forhalf gauge rib. All two-needle-bed and four-needle-bed sock-likeseamless tube structures currently manufactured on flat knittingmachines result in half-gauge fabric, which is fifty-percent less densethan knitting all adjacent needles in a bed, due to taking every otherneedle out of action (half-gauge).

Whole garment technology is a weft knitting technique employed by flatV-bed machine builders that utilizes half-gauge knitting techniques inmaking these sock-like tube constructions (as shown in diagram 17),shaping the tubes to make footwear, and typically joining the shapedtubes into garments and other products. Half-gauge is used for thesetechniques due to transfer limitations of knitting and manipulatingloops between two sets of opposing needles in a V-bed knitting machineand having limited destinations to transfer stitches. Half-gauge is alsoused due to the mechanical transfer limitations of knitting andmanipulating loops between two sets of opposing needles in a four-needlebed V-bed knitting machine, both having limited destinations to transferstitches.

In both sets of machinery, any loops which are transferred to the upperauxiliary beds must be transferred to the respective receiving bed(s),immediately in the next pass of the machine, and in the same directionthat the machine knitting systems are moving. Current V-bed flat-knittedsock uppers, which utilize at least two needle beds, are created inhalf-gauge, using exclusively jersey-based (single bed) stitchstructures such as jersey tuck, jersey knit, reverse jersey (purl),tubular jersey, and other sock structures similar to those made oncircular weft-knitting machines (sock machines).

To create the three-dimensional sock-like footwear upper on a flatknitting machine, the machine utilizes loops on opposing needle beds 16,each creating a knit face 24 and purl side 25 fabric facing each otherin a flattened tube structure. Alternating stitches on opposing needlebeds are used for the purpose of transferring loops to the opposing openneedles 17 to create shaping 19, 20, 21 and 22. To create the heel, theflat-knitting machine knits short rows of jersey in one portion of thetube to create the heel structure. The resulting tube sock-like upperstructure is composed of one or more jersey-based knitting structures.Unfortunately, the jersey-based structures collapse on themselves, andthe edges tend to roll toward the purl side. Jersey structure by itselfis rarely suitable to attach to a sole and contain a foot in motion.Jersey structure typically require post processes, and or additionalreinforcing materials to be knitted into the fabric, such as stiffeningmonofilaments and or thermoplastic materials to be added and lateractivated, and attachments to reinforce the structure. Half-gaugejersey-based fabrics do not connect the fabric on opposing needle beds,but rather jersey loops are manipulated to empty interstice needles onthe opposing bed. Half Gauge jersey is even more impractical as astandalone structure choice for an upper, without significantreinforcing applications.

Double bed fabric such as rib, cardigan, full cardigan, half-gaugejacquard, and other half-gauge double bed stitches can also be made inthis half-gauge manner on V-bed flat machines though shaping half-gaugeversions of these double-bed fabrics on four needle beds (shown by 23 inFIG. 5). However, transferring loops between the two needle beds haslimitations of racking one to two needle positions in either direction.Racking is the shifting of one needle bed a given number of needlepositions to align a selected stitch or group of stitches to its newdestination on the opposing bed. Racking more than one to two needles ofhalf-gauge double-bed fabric (the width of the selected loop itself andits adjacent empty neighbor needle) risks ripping out the stitches andpotentially destroying the needle hooks themselves.

Knitting a product such as an upper using the whole garment technique(also known as Knit and Wear manufacturing), is similar in shaping andtransferring loops to the fully-fashioned technique, but with someimportant differences. The whole garment (Trademark of Shima Seiki ofJapan) and or Knit and The sock-like versions of three-dimensionallyweft knitted footwear uppers use exclusively jersey-based stitchstructures made on circular weft-knitting machines, or on flat-knittingmachines, also using exclusively jersey-based fabrications, otherwiseknown as single-bed fabrications created in a tube structure.

To create the three-dimensional sock-like footwear upper on a flatknitting machine, as shown in FIG. 2B and FIG. 5, the flat-knittingmachine utilizes loops opposing needle beds, each creating a technicalknit face 24 and technical purl side 25 fabric facing each other in atube structure. The machine may also utilize alternating stitches onopposing needle beds for the purpose of transferring loops to theopposing open hooks to create shaping (17 in FIG. 5).

To create the heel, the flat-knitting machine knits short rows of jerseyin one portion of the tube to create the heel structure. The resultingupper structure is composed of one or more jersey-based knittingstructures. Conventional methods of manufacturing fully-fashionedknitted footwear uppers on V-bed flat knitting machines utilizedouble-knit fabrications such as Milano, half-Milano, spacer fabrics,pique, and other such double fabrications, and or sock like jerseystructures created in the ‘Whole Garment’ (Trademark Shima Seiki) and or‘Knit and Wear’ technique (Trademark of H. Stoll Ag & Co. KG inReutlingen, Germany). Fully fashioned double-bed uppers, jersey-sockuppers and Whole Garment and Knit and Wear technique products aresemi-finished textiles which require sewing seams as in the case offully-fashioned uppers. Sock-like tubes and Whole Garment and or Knitand Wear technique uppers require additional manufacturing steps toready the footwear upper for the shoe manufacturing process.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The embodiments can be better understood with reference to the followingdrawings and description. The components in the figures are notnecessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustratingthe principles of the embodiments. Moreover, in the figures, likereference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout thedifferent views.

FIG. 1A are diagrams demonstrating the parts and angle of a normal heelon a human foot as compared to its sole and or a flat surface.

FIG. 1B are diagrams of the grain lines of the heel and body of aseamless article of footwear produced on a two-needle-bed knittingmachine with double bed fabric using short rowing.

FIG. 1C is a loop diagram of the heel area of a knitted-to-shapethree-dimensional semi-finished textile upper using short rowing.

FIG. 2A is a diagram of weft knitting, and the horizontal directions bywhich strands are inserted into fabric and entangled to create ‘weft’knit fabric.

FIG. 2B is a diagram of latch needles used in weft knitting, engagingthe strands, which are inserted into the knitting machine, the fabrictechnical jersey knit face and technical jersey purl back created oneither the front or the rear needle bed.

FIG. 3A is a side view diagram of the positioning of the needle beds andlatch needles of a two-needle bed flat V-bed knitting machine.

FIG. 3B is a side view diagram of the positioning of the needle beds andlatch needles in a four needle bed machines, with a two-needle bed flatV-bed and two additional auxiliary beds and transfer points.

FIG. 3C is a side view diagram of the positioning of the needle beds andlatch needles of a two-needle bed flat V-bed knitting machine with twoadditional auxiliary beds and transfer points, yarn rails, yarn feeders,yarn strand cone packages, and strands feeding into the machine.

FIG. 3D is a front view diagram of an automated V-bed flat weft knittingmachine.

FIG. 3E is a side view diagram of the positioning of the needle beds andlatch needles of a two-needle bed flat V-bed knitting machine with twoadditional auxiliary beds and transfer points, yarn rails, yarn feeders,yarn strand cone packages, strand spool packages, and strands feedinginto the machine.

FIG. 4A is a diagram of two-dimensional roll goods with two-dimensionalfootwear upper pattern pieces to be cut and associated waste material inaccordance with the conventional art.

FIG. 4B is a diagram of a knitted to shape three-dimensional footwearupper with one or more knit textures according to a conventionalfully-fashioned approach.

FIG. 4C is a diagram of a knitted to shape two-dimensional footwearupper with one or more knit textures according to a conventional hybridapproach.

FIG. 4D is a loop diagram showing the heel area of a seamless article offootwear produced on a two-needle-bed knitting machine with double bedfabric using short rowing technique.

FIG. 5 is a loop diagram of transferring techniques used in half-gaugetubular knitting to widen a tube on a flat knitting machine.

FIG. 6A is a loop diagram of the heel area of an exemplary seamlessarticle of footwear produced on a four-needle-bed knitting machine withdouble bed fabric and seamlessly inserting or joining the facets of thesupportive panel in accordance with an embodiment of the presentdisclosure, where the heel angle can be a steep, right, and or an obtuseangle.

FIG. 6B are diagrams of the grain lines of the heel and body fabrics ofa seamless article of footwear produced on a four-needle-bed knittingmachine with double bed half-milano knit 46 fabric and seamlesslyinserting or joining the facets of the supportive panel in accordancewith an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7A is a diagram of an exemplary seamless weft knitted article offootwear with an integrated Fiber Reinforced Fiber component heel and anintegrated Fiber Reinforced Fiber toe component, both joined in the sameknitting process with a heat resistant separating material in accordancewith an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7B is a diagram of an exemplary seamless weft knitted article offootwear with an integrated sole component joined to the heel by using aknitting process in accordance with an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 7C is a diagram of an exemplary seamless weft knitted article offootwear with an integrated sole component joined to the heel by using aknitting process in accordance with an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 8A is a diagram of an exemplary seamless weft knitted article offootwear with an integrated sub-layer attached at the toe andcorresponding to the upper, while knitted by using a knitting process,and the grain lines of each layer and heel in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 8B is a diagram of an exemplary seamless weft knitted article offootwear with an integrated sole/insole attached at the toe by using aknitting process in accordance with an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 8C is a diagram of an exemplary seamless weft knitted article offootwear with an integrated outer layer attached at the toe by using aknitting process in accordance with an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 8D is a diagram of an exemplary seamless weft knitted article offootwear with an integrated sub-assembly attached at the toe by using aknitting process and grain lines in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 8E is a diagram of an exemplary seamless weft knitted article offootwear with integrated eye stay aesthetic/reinforcement attached atinstep opening by using a knitting process in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 9A illustrates an exemplary seamless upper emerging from theknitting machine in accordance with an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 9B illustrates an exemplary sequential series of essentially thesame seamless uppers emerging from the knitting machine in accordancewith an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 9C illustrates another exemplary sequential series of differingseamless uppers emerging from the knitting machine in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 10A is a diagram of an exemplary seamless weft knitted article offootwear with a second seamless weft knitted article of footwear withdiffering properties stacked to create one upper in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 10B is a diagram of an exemplary seamless weft knitted article offootwear with a second seamless weft knitted article of footwear and athird seamless weft knitted article of footwear in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 10C is a diagram of an exemplary seamless weft knitted article offootwear with a second seamless weft knitted article of footwear withwarped inlaid reinforcing strands in accordance with an embodiment ofthe present disclosure.

-   -   All Figures disclosed herein are © Copyright 2018-2019        Fabdesigns Inc. All rights reserved.

SUMMARY

Embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to knitted footwearuppers and systems and methods of making the same. More particularly,embodiments of the present disclosure provide fully finishedthree-dimensionally weft knitted footwear and the related method ofmanufacturing a footwear upper structure knitted on V-bed (“weft”) flatknitting machinery. The method includes manipulating one or moredouble-knit stitch types and joining the stitches exclusively in theknitting process to create a seamless upper to fit a user's foot. Aresulting upper advantageously has no sewn seams and requires no manualpost process to cut or sew the upper to create the dimensional shape.The process creates a seamless, dimensionally stable footwear upper, asa unitary textile construction with an integrated anatomicallyappropriate heel. The entire upper, including the closure element of theupper, may be completed exclusively by the knitting machine, ready forfollowing shoe making processes.

Embodiments of the present disclosure advantageously provide a shoeupper making mechanism that eliminates sewing seams and minimizesmaterial waste by creating a seamless and finished upper in a unitarytextile construction which is shaped entirely by a knitting machine. Thefinished upper is then ready for following shoe manufacturing processes.

Embodiments of the present disclosure advantageously enable creation ofa stable seamless, finished upper, which is built and shaped exclusivelyin the knitting process by shaping steady double-knit structures. Inaddition to securing the dimensional stability of a seamless, finishedunitary upper construction being created entirely in the knittingprocess, the upper may also incorporate appendage structures of supportand or aesthetic applications that are also knitted in the same knittingprocess. Further, the disclosed mechanisms can advantageously eliminatethe need for external sub-assemblies, and the need for management ofextra processes, materials, and scrap. Furthermore, in creating aseamless, finished unitary upper construction, the angle of the heel isadvantageously and anatomically optimized by utilizing four-needle-bedtechnology to join facets of the double-knitted upper in steep, right,and obtuse angles to fit the anatomy of the foot.

The foregoing Summary and the following detailed description will bebetter understood when read in conjunction with the accompanyingFigures. Other systems, methods, features and advantages of theembodiments will be, or will become, apparent to one of ordinary skillin the art upon examination of the following figures and detaileddescription. It is intended that all such additional systems, methods,features and advantages be included within this description and thissummary, be within the scope of the embodiments, and be protected by thefollowing claims.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Exemplary Embodiments

Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of thepresent invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings. While the invention will be described in conjunction with thepreferred embodiments, it will be understood that they are not intendedto limit the invention to these embodiments. On the contrary, theinvention is intended to cover alternatives, modifications andequivalents, which may be included within the spirit and scope of theinvention as defined by the appended claims. Furthermore, in thefollowing detailed description of embodiments of the present invention,numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thoroughunderstanding of the present invention. However, it will be recognizedby one of ordinary skill in the art that the present invention may bepracticed without these specific details. In other instances, well-knownmethods, procedures, components, and circuits have not been described indetail so as not to unnecessarily obscure aspects of the embodiments ofthe present invention. The drawings showing embodiments of the inventionare semi-diagrammatic and not to scale and, particularly, some of thedimensions are for the clarity of presentation and are shown exaggeratedin the drawing Figures. Similarly, although the views in the drawingsfor the ease of description generally show similar orientations, thisdepiction in the Figures is arbitrary for the most part. Generally, theinvention can be operated in any orientation.

Embodiments of the present disclosure use a knitting mechanism to shapean upper, where a complete upper is knitted in three-dimensions to thedesired shape and size. The knitting may use full-gauge double bedfabric, manipulated on at least three needle beds of a flat knittingmachine. Unlike the conventional jersey-based tube versions of footwearuppers, and the whole garment technique jersey uppers, or thefully-fashioned semi-finished flat knitted textile uppers currently onthe market, the disclosed novel mechanism advantageously allows acompletely finished upper with no seams by knitting various componentsin one knitting process and the components are connected to one anotherby the knitting stitches generated in the same knitting process.

According to embodiments of the present disclosure, in creating fullyfinished three-dimensional knitted uppers, loops are formed in one ormore needle beds and relocated by knitting points, or needles inauxiliary needle beds. The knitting machine may be mechanically andautomatically manipulated by a pattern program to knit and move loops tocomplete such a shoe upper. The grain of the upper fabric may be shiftedin multiple directions individually or simultaneously during theknitting process. The heel area is completed by the machine in the sameknitting process. As a result, a one-piece footwear upper isadvantageously produced with no human intervention.

In some embodiments, the grain of the heel is perpendicular to theremainder of the footwear upper. FIG. 6A is a loop diagram of the heelarea of an exemplary seamless article of footwear produced on afour-needle-bed knitting machine with double bed fabric and seamlesslyinserting or joining the facets of a supportive panel in accordance withan embodiment of the present disclosure, where the heel angle can be asteep, right, and or an obtuse angle.

In some embodiments, the footwear upper's fabric grain 1 (the grain forthe main body) changes direction ninety degrees in the knitting processas the heel area is formed, and consequently the stitches appearperpendicular in the heel fabric grain 2 (as shown by the arrowed curvesin FIG. 6A). During this process of creating the heel or otherattachment or appendages as described below, the double bed loops of theopposing side of the heel are transferred to the additional third andfourth needle bed and then attached to the face or the reverse of thedouble bed fabric as the shape requires. In some embodiments, allmovements are performed automatically and exclusively by the knittingmachine, with no human intervention needed for attaching togetherdifferent components of the footwear upper.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 6A, a heel, including a heel component,is created in the same knitting process and manipulated exclusively bythe knitting machine into place to complete a finished upper to adesired size and shape. The knitting process uses more than two needlebeds on the flat-knitting machine. In some embodiments, a four-needlebed machine is used.

Particularly, as shown in FIG. 3B and FIG. 6A, when knitting the heel,the machine uses the auxiliary beds 5, to transfer loops from the bottomneedle beds 3 a, manipulating a full gauge set of loops on both needlebeds (as shown in FIG. 6A), inserting one or more separate components inthe knitting process, and further shaping the upper. The upper andvarious components therein may be made from sturdy double-bed fabricsuch as Milano, half-Milano, spacer fabrics, pique, and other suchdouble fabrications and combinations into tubes, shells, pockets, andcorresponding attached components.

The knitting structure and shaping processes disclosed herein differgreatly from the conventional sock-like and whole garment jerseyknitting structure and shaping process as shown in FIG. 5 and differsubstantially from the knitting structure and shaping process as shownin FIG. 1C. Unlike the current double-bed uppers shown in FIG. 4D, anexemplary shoe upper is knitted in a unitary construction.

As shown in FIG. 6A, in an exemplary knitting structure and shapingprocess, the machine closes one or more sides of the upper by knitting aside as an insert in the knitting process. The machine manipulates theinsert, transfers double knit stitches and attaches the insert to theremaining sides. FIG. 6B is a diagram of the grain lines of the heel andbody fabrics of a seamless article of footwear produced on afour-needle-bed knitting machine with double bed fabric and seamlesslyinserting or joining the facets of the supportive panel in accordancewith an embodiment of the present disclosure. For example, to attach theheel side of the shoe upper, the fabric grain of the inserted side (theheel) is turned counter to the fabric grain of the remaining upper, asshown in FIG. 6B. To create the insert, loops are formed adjacent to theloops to which they will be joined, and each loop is transferred to itsreceiving loop to join. This process produces no seam. This joining ofthe heel-insert may be symmetrical or asymmetrical. This joiningtechnique of the heel-insert may be approximately perpendicular (at aninety-degree angle), steep angle, acute, angle, or obtuse.

The body of the upper may be made of one or more materials, includingfor example natural fibers, synthetic polymer extrusions, thermoplastic,metalized fibers, wire, chain, webbing, braids, silicon, rubberized,coated, elasticated, synthetic polymers, and other well knowntraditional fibers, as well as fiber strands used as a structural basefor fiber reinforced polymer (“FRP”), including hemp, flax, linen,glass, basalt, ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE), carbonfiber (“graphene reinforced polymer”) and others. A material may be usedin the entire upper or specific parts of the upper as needed for theperformance characteristics required of the particular zone. Forexample, the toe and heel areas may require more abrasion resistance andincorporate an aramid material. The ankle area may incorporate the extrastretch and recovery of elasticated material. The instep and mid-footmay incorporate a monofilament to stabilize the foot onto the sole. Anattached insole (e.g., 33 in FIG. 8D) may incorporate and anti-microbialmaterial. An attached outer sole may incorporate a heavy gaugemonofilament for building a knitted spring structure and or a compositematerial of fiber reinforced polymer, which is later processed. Anattached heel flap may incorporate an additional aesthetic element withfiber optics or reflective materials. A combination of knit structureand incorporating a ‘cloaking’ or radar-absorbent material may beknitted as an attached outer shell, encasing an inner shoe upper forstructure.

A stitch type may be used in the entire upper or specific parts of theupper as needed for the performance characteristics required of theparticular zone for the same reasons. According to embodiments of thepresent disclosure, as shown in FIG. 6B, when forming the heel area inthe knitting process, the footwear upper's fabric grain 1 can changedirection by greater than 75 degrees (e.g., 90 degrees as shown by thearrowed lines). Consequently the stitches can appear approximatelyperpendicular in the heel fabric grain.

In some embodiments, during the process of creating the heel or otherattachment, the double bed loops of the opposing side of the heel aretransferred to the additional third and fourth needle beds and thenattached to the face or the reverse side of the double bed fabric as theshape requires. All movements are performed automatically by theknitting machine, with no human intervention.

The textile fabric comprising the upper may include one or more stitchtypes, for example including single bed (“jersey”), double bed fabric,spacer fabric, intarsia, net fabric, inlay fabric (horizontal, vertical,and/or diagonal), or other weft knit construction. The same stitchstructure may be used in the entire upper or a plurality of parts of theupper. A stitch type may be used in the entire upper or specific partsof the upper as needed for the performance characteristics required ofthe particular zone for particular reasons. A plurality of stitchstructures may be knitted into specific areas as needed for theperformance characteristics required of the particular zone. Forexample, the toe and heel areas may be more densely knitted. The anklearea may incorporate extra stretch and recovery structures.

FIG. 6B is a diagram of a seamless weft knitted article of footwear withan integrated heel joined in the same knitting process, plus: heelcomponent attached at the heel, tongue component with spacer attached atthe toe, and side components attached at the sides. A tongue is foldedinside the upper.

FIG. 7A is a diagram of an exemplary seamless weft knitted article offootwear with an integrated Fiber Reinforced Fiber component heel 39 andan integrated Fiber Reinforced Fiber toe component, both joined in thesame knitting process with a heat resistant separating material and asmall waste section 41 in accordance with an embodiment of the presentdisclosure. 37 in FIG. 7A shows a pointelle structure resulting from theknitting process. FIG. 7B is a diagram of an exemplary seamless weftknitted article of footwear with an integrated sole component joined tothe heel in the same knitting process in accordance with an embodimentof the present disclosure. FIG. 7C is a diagram of an exemplary seamlessweft knitted article of footwear with an integrated sole componentjoined to the heel in the same knitting process in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure.

The instep may incorporate a net or mesh structure for ventilation; andan attached insole may incorporate padding. An attached outer sole asshown in FIG. 7C may incorporate a rigid or knitted spring structure. Anattached heel flap as shown in FIG. 7A may incorporate an additionalaesthetic element.

According to the embodiments of the present disclosure, a knittingmachine integrates the production of multiple sides of an upper in aknitting process and may also integrate the production of one or morecomponent appendages in the same knitting process. All dimensionalshaping of the upper and any components can be carried out exclusivelyby a knitting machine, for example a V-bed knitting machine. An attachedcomponent may be any such extension of an edge of a separate component,or the body of the upper, such as a tongue component 38, which isattached at the toe and is folded to the upper body in a post process.In the post process, the tongue appendage 38 may be folded to the upperto emerge through the opening in the instep of the upper as in the finalproduct. Another appendage might be a heel support or heel reinforcementstructure 39, which is knit onto the heel section in the same knittingprocess and may be folded inside the upper or onto the outside of theupper for support or aesthetic reasons. Another appendage componentmight be a side support (or side reinforcement) 40, similarly formed inthe same knitting process, which is knit onto one or more sides. Theside support may be folded inside the upper or onto the outside of theupper for support or aesthetic reasons.

FIG. 8A is a diagram of an exemplary seamless weft knitted article offootwear with an integrated sub-layer, including a 1×1 rib edge 45,attached at the toe and corresponding to the upper, while knitted in thesame knitting process, and the grain lines of each layer and heel inaccordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 8B is adiagram of an exemplary seamless weft knitted article of footwear withan integrated sole/insole attached at the toe in the same knittingprocess in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG.8C is a diagram of an exemplary seamless weft knitted article offootwear with an integrated outer layer attached at the toe in the sameknitting process in accordance with an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 8A, an attached appendage can be anentire separate upper or a portion of an upper (e.g., an under-shoelayer 32), which is finished in a separate process and folded inside andor on top of the fully finished upper. In the embodiment shown in FIG.8B, an attached appendage may be an entire separate sole or insole,where the structure of the component appendage sole or insole 33 may becompletely different than the upper itself (foot upper 12). The sole orinsole may include a single structure or combination of various stitchtechniques such as for instance spacer 34 structure, welt, jacquard,Milano, ½ Milano, mesh pointelle, textured jacquard, ripples,dimensional structures, channels, tunnels and tubular structures, whichmight be filled in a post process. The sole or insole may be completedby the machine or finished in a separate process and folded inside thecompletely finished upper.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 8B, another appendage component can be alatticed structure (e.g., lattice cage structure 47) shaped into asecondary upper in the same knitting process. Each strip of the latticestructure is a separate finished appendage, with each strip joiningregular or asymmetrical positions of adjacent strips, creating openingssimilar to windows in the secondary upper. The secondary upper or aportion of an upper, when finished, is folded against the completelyfinished upper 12. Portions of the completely finished upper may showthrough the latticed upper 47.

A completely finished shoe upper by the flat-knitting machine may haveone or more aforementioned component appendages, which are created inthe same knitting process and attached at one or more places, includingthe heel, toe, instep, eyelet 58 (FIG. 8E), ankle 59 (FIG. 8E), mid-footsides, and sole.

The knitting process of a shoe upper may result in minimal hinging wastesection 41 (FIG. 7A), which may be small enough to disappear into theshoe making process. Attached appendages typically require no additionalsourcing, purchasing, color matching, warehousing, cutting, scrappingwaste, bundling, coordinating or attaching.

Sub-assemblies may be integrated into the knitting process. FIG. 8D is adiagram of an exemplary seamless weft knitted article of footwear withan integrated sub-assembly attached at the toe in the same knittingprocess and grain lines in accordance with an embodiment of the presentdisclosure. This subassembly consists of two other layers 49 withexamples of corresponding features, a wire feed warp reinforcing elementlayer 48 with an adhesive knitted into both faces of the respectivelayer, and a textured intarsia jacquard layer 57, each of the otherlayers is folded upon each other and seamed at the heel, then folded ontop of the seamless upper. FIG. 8E is a diagram of an exemplary seamlessweft knitted article of footwear with integrated eye stayaesthetic/reinforcement attached at instep opening the same knittingprocess in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

The upper body itself and/or the attached components may have one ormore strands and incorporated parts aiding in securing the attachedcomponents to the upper, in the post process. These strands may be, forinstance, adhesive strands, thermal adhesive, nonthermal adhesive,magnetic, or other suitable type of strand material. Such strands formconnections between the body of the upper and an attached component.

The resulting upper structure advantageously may have one or moreperformance characteristics, is a stable structure, has no seams, andits seams are completely finished by the flat-knitting machine, with nohuman intervention. Each component is attached and directly correspondsto the shape and assembly of the upper. For example, the toe and heelappendages may require more abrasion resistance and incorporate anaramid material, which is folded in or on top of the body of the upper.The ankle area may incorporate a padded elasticated material andfinished in a post process. The instep and mid-foot may incorporate amonofilament or a thermal plastic strand spanning the instep andmigrating to both the toe and heel to stabilize the foot and hold thefoot onto the sole in motion. An attached insole (e.g., 33 in FIG. 8B)may incorporate an auxetic material attaching to specific parts of thebody of the upper. An attached sole may incorporate an FRP material,which is finished in a post process, but is linked to the body of theupper for stability. An attached outer sole may incorporate a heavygauge monofilament or other rubberized, auxetic, or stiffening materialsin building a knitted spring structure and or a composite material offiber reinforced polymer, which is later processed. An attached heelflap (e.g., heel FRP 43 in FIG. 7B) may incorporate an additionalaesthetic element with fiber optics or reflective materials. Acombination of knit structure and incorporating the aforementioned‘cloaking’ or radar-absorbent material may be knitted as an attachedouter shell, encasing an inner shoe upper for structure.

Such an attached component directly corresponds to the upper, securingthat it will be shaped and placed in the correct spot repeatedly andconsistently in production. As shown in FIG. 7C, an attached sole 60 maybe incorporated into the upper design, where the sole is attached aspart of the heel structure for particular stability purposes, as shownin FIG. 7C. The sole may have a dimensional texture (e.g., sole 61having a 3D texture created in the knitting process), such as a welt orother knit structure knitted into the sole appendage and the samematerial from the body may also appear in the sole and other appendagesof the upper. The sole appendage material may incorporate a stiffmaterial, a non-slip silicon material, or other materials orcombinations of materials, which may be carried though a portion of orall of the upper body and appendages. A knitted sole appendageoptionally may incorporate both a sole material and an upper bodymaterial, and wrap up and attach to the may body of the upper 62completing the upper in a seaming or adhesive process.

Each zone of the upper may also include one or more performance orfunctional features and may have other shoe components integrated in asub-assembly and attached to the upper in the knitting process, as shownin FIG. 7A. Each sub-assembly directly corresponds to the feature of theupper. Attaching the sub-assemblies and or other shoe components to theupper in the knitting process allows for consistent alignment ofcomponents and allows the same material lots to be maintained throughoutthe shoe assembly process. This can eliminate mismatched lots,variations in material, and assures that all parts were made on the samemachine, with the same manufacturing calibrations.

The knitted upper attachments may include semi-finished and or fullyshaped structure assemblies integrated in the knitting process, such asheel super and or sub structure, boot shaft, liner, insole assembly (33in FIG. 8B), outer sole construction, under-upper layer (FIG. 8A), overlayer upper (FIG. 8B), lacing eye stay super and or sub structure (FIG.8E), and or closure assembly, ankle assembly (59 in FIG. 8E), tongueassembly components (FIG. 8A), lateral and or medial side panel superand or sub structure assembly, toe super and or sub structure assembly,and other semi-finished or fully shaped integrated upper assemblycomponents (40 in FIG. 7A). The attached components may includestructures such as for instance pockets, tunnels, channels voids,liners, and or other structures and or openings. Such structures and oropenings on attached components and or sub-components may be ready toreceive other materials, fillers, hardware, composites, electronics,padding material and or other additional materials.

According to embodiments of the present disclosure, a knitting machineis utilized to automatically place specific structures and materialswhere they need to be and to close or seal the edges. This canrepeatedly and consistently eliminate cutting processes, material waste,and many sewing assembly costs. Many defects associated with cutting,sewing and assembling an upper can also be eliminated. Utilizing aknitting machine to automatically close or seal the edges eliminatesseams, and incorporates functional design or pattern lines, or otherspecific performance features that otherwise require cutting and orsewing. A resultant shoe upper is advantageously free of sewing seamfailures and free of pressure points pressing into a user's foot. Allthe edges of the upper are also finished, preventing unraveling andfraying.

Material strands utilized in knitting the upper body and or zones may befor example monofilament, multi-filament, staple yarn construction,slivers, core spun yarns or thread, air-tacked yarns, extrusion,pre-matrixed yarn constructions, copolymers, bi-components, woven yarnconstructions such as chenille, laminated film, flat ribbonizedstructures, tube, synthetic film, onto which a metallic layer has beenvaporized, fiber optics, conductive materials, carbonyl iron or ferritecoated strands, chain, braid, wire, or other strand-like compositions orcombinations. The strands can be fed into the knitting machinery tocreate three-dimensional footwear uppers knitted to shape completely bythe weft knitting machine. Variations of the same material may be usedin the entire upper or a plurality of the parts of the upper. Forexample, a micro-denier polyester yarn, which is soft due to the highnumber of filaments in proportion to the yarn size, may be placed inareas next to the skin to avoid chafing. A polyester yarn with a stretchcore may be used in the ankle area. A low filament polyester materialmay be used in the toe and heel areas for greater abrasion resistance. Apolyester monofilament may be incorporated into the sole area. Athermoplastic polyester material may be incorporated into areas whichrequire a reinforced structure to keep the foot on the sole. Here ahomogenous polymer system as described above is utilized throughout,(upper, appendages, insole, outsole, thermoplastic material), and theentire shoe may be easier to recycle.

According to embodiments of the present disclosure, a knitting processcan create a finished all needle double-bed footwear upper to a desiredsize and shape, ready for subsequent manufacturing process. The knittingprocess produces a shoe upper while eliminating the need for sewingseams and optimizing material savings. In some embodiments, the knittingprocess creates stable full gauge, double-bed fabric structures, bymanipulating one or more double bed fabric stitch types across at leastthree needle beds to create an integrated structure, strength, shaping,and scrap savings. The knitting process can combine many morefabrication options than currently available two-dimensional fullyfashioned uppers, three-dimensional semi-finished uppers, andthree-dimensional sock like structures.

In some embodiments, a seamless three-dimensional knitted uppers ismanufactured in a unitary textile construction by using a 4 needle bedflat knitting machine, for example as shown in FIG. 3B and FIG. 3C. Themachine has two auxiliary or alternate beds 5. There are fashioningpoints 6 or additional needles that allow for relocating stitches fromthe lower V-beds to another location or adding additional stitches. Inweft knitting, loops are progressively built up in a fabric byconverting the new yarn 8 being fed into in the needle hooks 4, into newrows of loops (“courses”). Each stitch can be a wale. Yarn 8 is fed intothe machine by automatically pulling a plurality of strands of yarns 8or other materials off a plurality of spools/packages 11 with themovement of the knitting machine feeders 10.

Specialized materials such as for instance carbon fiber, stainlesssteel, silicon, auxetic strands, reflective stands, aramids,para-aramids, magnetic strands, chain, metals, tubes, and othermaterials that are packaged on a spool, and ‘unwound’ off that packagenot to cause torque are fed into the machine by automatic unspoolingdevice. Any suitable unspooling device can be used without departingfrom the scope of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3E is a side view diagram of the positioning of the needle beds andlatch needles of a two-needle bed flat V-bed knitting machine with twoadditional auxiliary beds and transfer points, yarn rails, yarn feeders,yarn strand cone packages, strand spool packages, and strands feedinginto the machine. One or a plurality of these unspooling devices may bemounted on one knitting machine (e.g., the machine shown in FIG. 3D),driving a plurality of strands of wire, metal atomized strands, fiberreinforcing materials, such as carbon fiber, aramids, para-aramids,auxetic, or other special performance strands of materials 15 pulled offa plurality of spools 14, cones 11, or other packages, using step motorsand a stop motion system in coordination with the movement of theknitting machine feeder system 10. Moving along the feed rails 9, thepulled yarns (e.g., strands from cones 8) knit a plurality of courses toresult in production of rows of fabric 7, which are shaped into acompletely finished three-dimensionally knitted upper with no seams.

The knitting process may be performed by a computer controlled knittingmachine (as shown in FIG. 3E for example) instructed by a patternprogram in the knitting machine memory. FIG. 9A illustrates an exemplaryseamless upper emerging from the knitting machine in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure. The machine memory system may alsohave instructions for automatically knitting additional substantiallyidentical fully finished three-dimensionally knitted footwear uppers.Each subsequent upper may be linked or daisy chained together with astrand. FIG. 9B illustrates an exemplary sequential series ofessentially the same seamless uppers emerging from the knitting machinein accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. Each upperin the chain is identical. FIG. 9C illustrates another exemplarysequential series of differing seamless uppers emerging from theknitting machine in accordance with an embodiment of the presentdisclosure. The uppers in the chain are different, for example includingdifferent appendages created in their respective knitting processes.

The same automatic unspooling device (as shown in FIG. 3E) can beutilized to create single or multiple strands of aesthetic orreinforcement material, horizontally, vertically, or diagonally in anupper, or portion of an upper, as shown in FIGS. 9B and 9C. Thesestrands may be knitted, tucked, inlaid and or floated in an upper, upperlayer, or portion of an upper. The seamless unitary construction of theupper guides the strands into the upper region, repeatably andconsistently, with all edges finished and strands tacked in and readyfor the shoe making process.

A computer controlled knitting machine utilized in embodiments of thepresent disclosure can be any type of knitting machine that is wellknown in the art. The knitting machine may be capable of high-speedintricate weft knitting techniques and operations. Optionally, theknitting machine can mechanically draw a plurality of strands fromcones, spools and other material packaging (e.g., FIG. 3E), andmanipulate the strands into the seamless three-dimensionally knittedfootwear upper during a knitting process to form a predefined,three-dimensional shape footwear upper. For example, in one embodiment,the knitting process can be an intarsia knitting process in whichmultiple intarsia elements are knitted in knitting needles and thenjoined by auxiliary needle beds to form the various components andstructures of the footwear upper, as shown in FIG. 6A.

The three-dimensional shape of a seamless footwear upper may include aconcave or convex form disposed or located generally in the area of theinstep and ankle, while also creating a void for inserting a foot. Thethree-dimensional shape also may encompass substantially planar and/orconvex regions of the footwear upper sides and front, for example in thetoe box top and mid-foot lateral and medial sides, all of whichoptionally may include knitted intarsia elements. The machine itself maybe configured to interloop a plurality of first strands with a pluralityof second strands, and any number of additional strands, so as to formthe three-dimensional shape, combination of shapes, textures, andstructures that all are part of or contribute to the shape of theseamless footwear upper. The machine also may mechanically manipulateother strands, or optionally the same strand, manipulating it through aplurality of sections of the upper construction, solely with theoperations of a knitting machine during the knitting process to form theafore mentioned upper, consisting of generally curved, complex, andplanar shapes in the complete footwear upper and/or three-dimensionalconvex shapes, edges, structures, cushioning, eyelets, rigid areas,stretch zones, appendages, assemblies and other knitted structurescomprising the seamless three-dimensional footwear upper. The lattershapes can correspond generally with the heel, toe, instep, ankle and/orthe respective edges or other portions of the footwear upper.

During the knitting process, the knitting machine knits a fully formedseamless footwear upper so as to form the respective components of thethree-dimensional full-finished footwear upper with completely finishededges, requiring no seaming. For example, the knitting machine may knitthe toe area, the instep, eyelet, ankle curve edges, and heel, thenmoves the stitches for the heel to an alternative needle bed andattaches the heel stitches to the corresponding sides of the heel edge.In this manner, the heel stitches may be formed horizontally (weft) andattached by the machine to appear approximately perpendicular to thebody fabric, in order for the machine to close or seal the edges withknitting loops without seam. The heel area may incorporate a functionaldesign, combination of strands, or pattern lines, for reinforcement,stress and strain management, an appendage component, or other knittedstructures aforementioned.

Component appendages and or assemblies can be created in the sameknitting process. For example, the configuration of an upper layer orany appendage may be knitted as a single face plush knitted fabric or aspacer (e.g., 34 in FIG. 8B). A spacer is a fabric having twosingle-faced fabrics facing each other; one made on one bed and theother (the reverse single faced fabric) made on the opposing V-bed. Thetwo single fabrics are connected by an internal strand or combination ofstrands configured in “V” or “X” patterns of interlacing between the twofaces. The two face fabrics are connected by tucking or knittingselected needles on each bed 34. The frequency and configuration of the“V,” “X,” “W” or any other pattern of interlacing between the two facefabrics correlates with the space between the face fabrics, otherwiseknown as cushioning.

In some embodiments, the knitted construction may have a single layer ormultiple layers, fashioned to a desired shape by the machinery, with nocutting, no seaming of the upper layers. FIG. 10A is a diagram of anexemplary seamless weft knitted article of footwear 50, corresponding toa second seamless weft knitted article of footwear (second layer of thestack) 51, the first seamless weft knitted layer (top layer of thestack) 50 is knitted with a stiff material 54 such as polymerreinforcing hemp, carbon graphene, jute, aramid, para-aramid, auxetic,wire, material or other such flex limited material; the second layerwith differing properties, such as a microfiber 55; both layers arestacked to create one upper in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent disclosure. FIG. 10B is a diagram of an exemplary seamless weftknitted article of footwear with a second seamless weft knitted articleof footwear and a third seamless weft knitted article of footwear inaccordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. Each layerhaving differing properties, and corresponding knitted dimensionalstructures which hold, share, and transfer electronic components. Thelayers can be stacked to create one final upper. FIG. 10C is a diagramof an exemplary seamless weft knitted article of footwear with a secondseamless weft knitted article of footwear with embedded warpedreinforcing strands and or conductive materials knitted in the sameknitting process as the respective upper layer 50 in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure. The uppers can be stacked tocreate one final upper.

There may be several layers making up an upper. As shown in FIG. 8D, theadditional uppers are stacked inside each other, e.g., each havingspecific performance or aesthetic characteristic. The additional layers49 may be attached in the same knitting process, as in FIG. 8A.Alternatively they may be individual uppers, acting as separatecomponents to create one upper. In FIG. 8D for example, one layerembodies a base material and several warp inlaid strands 48, which maybe incorporated for aesthetic, reinforcing, or functional purposes.Aesthetic purposes may include incorporating reflective materials.Reinforcing purposes may include incorporating a strong fiber withminimal stretch such as Kevlar orUltra-High-Molecular-Weight-Polyethylene (UHMWPE). Functional purposesmay include conductive or dissipative materials. The upper is layeredwith an outer layer 49, which may embody a desired aesthetic, and aseamless inner layer 12, which may contain an anti-microbial function.

In some embodiments, the knitted construction may have a single layer ormultiple layer fully-shaped appendage reinforcement areas, which arecompletely fashioned to a desired shape by the machinery, with nocutting, and only minimal seaming and trimming of the upper or upperlayers, for example as shown in FIG. 8A. In some embodiments, theconfiguration may be knitted as an attached, but separately shaped, toeaesthetic or reinforcement shape with a performance or aesthetic strand,aramid or para-aramid strand and/or a strand combined with athermoplastic adhesive strand, where the shape and or shape assembly isconnected to the toe region of the upper and is folded over or under thefully shaped three-dimensional footwear upper body (e.g., as shown inFIG. 7B) and assembled in a post process related to the shoe makingprocess.

In some embodiments, the configuration may be knitted as an attached butseparately shaped eyelet area(s), which may have an aesthetic orreinforcement type shape with a performance or aesthetic strand, aramidor para-aramid strand and/or a strand combined with a thermoplasticadhesive strand, where the shape and or shape assembly is connected tothe eyelet region of the upper (e.g., as shown in FIG. 8E) and is foldedover or under the fully shaped three-dimensional footwear upper body andassembled in an after-process related to the shoe making process.

In some embodiments, the configuration may be knitted as an attached butseparately shaped heel (e.g., 43 in FIG. 7B), which may have anaesthetic or reinforcement type shape. The heel may include aperformance or aesthetic strand, aramid or para-aramid strand and/or astrand combined with a thermoplastic adhesive strand, where the shapeand or shape assembly is connected to the heel region of the upper andis folded over or under the fully shaped three-dimensional footwearupper body and assembled in an after-process related to the shoe makingprocess.

In some embodiments, the configuration may be knitted as an attached butseparately shaped ankle, which may have an aesthetic or reinforcementtype shape with a performance or aesthetic strand, aramid or para-aramidstrand and/or a strand combined with a thermoplastic adhesive strand,where the shape and or shape assembly is connected to the ankle regionof the upper and is folded over or under the fully shapedthree-dimensional footwear upper body and assembled in an after-processrelated to the shoe making process.

In some embodiments, the configuration may be knitted as an attached butseparately shaped lateral and/or medial mid-foot region, which may havean aesthetic or reinforcement shape and or shape assembly, which mayinclude a performance or aesthetic strand, aramid or para-aramid strandand or a strand combined with a thermoplastic adhesive strand, where theshape and or shape assembly is connected to the lateral and or medialmid-foot region of the upper and is folded over or under the seamlessthree-dimensional footwear upper body and assembled in an after-processrelated to the shoe making process.

In some embodiments, the configuration may be knitted as an attached butseparately shaped sole/insole which may be knitted to shape with aperformance, cushioning, or aesthetic strand, aramid or para-aramidstrand and/or a strand combined with a thermoplastic adhesive strand,where the sole/insole shape and or shape assembly is connected to apoint on the bottom portion of the main upper, which could be a toe,heel or side bottom region of the upper and this sole or insole shapeand or shape assembly is folded over or under the fully shapedthree-dimensional footwear upper body and assembled in an after-processrelated to the shoe making process.

In some embodiments, the configuration may be knitted as an attached butseparately shaped full upper liner and or liner assembly, which may havean aesthetic or reinforcement type shape with a performance or aestheticstrand, aramid or para-aramid strand and/or a strand combined with athermoplastic adhesive strand, where the shape and or shape assembly isconnected to the bottom sewing edge region of the upper and is foldedover or under the fully shaped three-dimensional footwear upper body andassembled in an after-process related to the shoe making process.

In some embodiments, the configuration may be knitted as an attached butseparately shaped strap, tab, closure system, webbing or other shapedappendage and or appendage assembly, which may have an aesthetic orreinforcement type shape with a performance or aesthetic strand, aramidor para-aramid strand and/or a strand combined with a thermoplasticadhesive strand, where the shape and or shape assembly is connected to apoint on the upper and is folded over or under the fully shapedthree-dimensional footwear upper body and assembled in an post processrelated to the shoe making process.

Embodiments of the present disclosure advantageously enablemanufacturing a three-dimensional, fully-shaped, seamless footwear upperthat is one or more double-bed fabrics throughout with no cutting orsewing. Comparing to manufacturing a cut and sew processed upper, atwo-dimensionally shaped knitted textile upper, a semi-finishedthree-dimensionally knitted textile upper, manufacturing a footwearupper according to embodiments of the present disclosure advantageouslysignificantly simplifies the upper manufacturing process, which leads toreduced labor cost and material waste.

According to embodiments of the present disclosure, a three-dimensionalfootwear upper can be readily and easily made as light weight and maymix various stitch types in the same footwear upper. A three-dimensionalfootwear upper can be strengthened and or reinforced by incorporatingadditional materials in double-bed fabrications in locations such asheel, toe, eye lace stay, mid-foot, ankle, sole and other areas toprovide structure. Such double-bed fabrics may be Milano, half-Milano,jacquard, spacer, pique, spacer, cross-linked tubular jacquard, crossbed tubular structures, welt, interlock, pique, double faced, and othersuch fabrications using two needle beds. Fashioning features may beadded to various areas of the upper by moving of stitches between one ormore beds. Such double-bed fabrics may include various supportivematerials such as mono-filaments, multi-filament, or staple yarns, whichadd additional structure, reinforcement, or may be activated inpost-processes. By creating, and possibly attaching, additionalcomponent appendages in the same knitting process, the requisitesourcing, warehousing, process, assembling, bundling and coordinatingfor the shoe making process are remarkably reduced. This contributes toless labor, cost, and waste.

The present disclosure describes a process of manufacturing an articleof footwear, which is entirely finished by a weft knitting machine. Thefully shaped one-piece upper may include one or more layers of singleand or double-bed fabric, which are produced and completely andfashioned by using at least three needle beds of a flat-knittingmachine. The present disclosure also describes a process ofmanufacturing a multi-component article of footwear, comprising finishedor semi-finished components (assembly structures), which are shaped andor attached by the flat-knitting machine in the knitting process. Acomplete upper may also include multiple footwear upper components whichare created entirely by the flat knitting machine (e.g., FIG. 3D), andintegrated or attached by the knitting machine as part of the knittingprocess.

In some embodiments, an upper can be knitted in multiple layers by usingtwo or more fully finished seamless uppers, for example with differingperformance configurations. This may be advantageous for aesthetic,functional, or manufacturing purposes. For instance, knitting an entireupper of a stiff material (such as carbon fiber, aramid, flame retardantor other extreme performance material) as an outer layer, and thenknitting an additional upper from a microfiber or other more materialwhich is softer on the skin or thermally insulating. By creatingmultiple upper shells of varying performance characteristics and thenstacking them in the shoe manufacturing process, feature alignments canbe advantageously improved.

In certain circumstances, eliminating seams while also using all-needleknitting to create an upper can also provide desired technicalsmart-fabric benefits. In some embodiments, special materials areintegrated into the knitting process and combined with seamless knittedstructures in two or more adjacent layers of the knitted material in anupper construction. The shoe upper may be configured with electronicfunctions and components. For example, as shown in FIG. 10B, theelectronics devices are located in one or more pockets 53 knitted intoone layer (third layer of the stack) 52. The electronic devices arecapable of interacting with the interior or exterior of one or moreother layers 51 of a stacked upper. Thus, the stacking of uppers mayprovide additional performance characteristics in addition to holding afoot in motion.

For example, magnetic strands are used in knitting one layer or portionof an upper, and ferrofluid coated strands are used in knitting anotherlayer or portion of an adjacent upper. When aligned together andactivated, the resultant upper can function as a system operable toguide or absorb radio frequency waves, thus changing how the upperappears in a radar scan. Other materials may be combined similarly in anupper construction to guide, absorb, or reflect electro-magnetic wavesand light waves.

More complex three-dimensional seamless uppers can be made according toembodiments of the present disclosure, such as those that includecomposite matrix materials in all or a portion of the upper (e.g., 43 inFIG. 7B); those which require ballistic protection, water repellency, RFshielding, electronic frequency (EF) and/or radio frequency (RF)shielding; or those which require electronics, heating and cooling orother conductive, shielding, or dissipative performance characteristics.Such a complex three-dimensional seamless upper may be composed of avariety of materials knitted into specific areas, attached appendages,and or layers as needed for specific performance or aesthetic purposes.

For example, in one configuration, the toe and heel areas mayincorporate composite or aramid materials for ballistic protection(e.g., toe reinforcement 42 in FIG. 7B). An upper may also incorporateconductive materials for heating and cooling of the foot. An upper mayalso incorporate fiber optics. An upper may also incorporate magneticmaterials to react with a ferrofluid coated strand to affect a‘cloaking’ or radar-absorbent performance. An upper may also incorporateelectronic sensors, RFID, as well as shielding. Each zone with aparticular feature can be knitted to shape (including any appendages),and the knitting machine fully integrates or semi-finishes the requiredmaterial into the upper, which is fully formed by the machine. Anycomposite or matrixes of materials can be later activated or resinizedin a post process machinery step. Additional electronic power supply,sensors, PCB, connectors and/or other electronic support assemblies,which do not fit into the material feed systems of the knitting machine,may be attached in post processes. In some embodiments, the pockets,channels, tubes, and structures required to hold the electronics may beknitted into the upper or several layers of uppers (e.g., shown in FIG.10B).

The conventional manufacturing process for fiber-reinforced-polymercomposite materials includes bonding two or more homogenous materialswith differing material properties, to derive a final product withcertain desired material and mechanical properties. Fiber-reinforcedpolymers (“FRP”) are a category of composite materials that specificallyuse fiber materials to mechanically enhance the strength and elasticityof polymer matrices. Typically, these composites are woven or non-wovenfabrications, where the fabrication or weave pattern is essentially thesame throughout the two-dimensional panel. The large two-dimensionalpanels are later cut in a post process and subjected to heat andpressure to form the three-dimensional shape. Any additional structureelements or reinforcement elements are layered onto the woven panel witha sub-assembly process prior to forming the upper or in an additionalpost process. The process of cutting carbon fiber components and otherFRP materials requires large, specialized cutting systems with specialcutting tooling. Most of these cutting processes are only suitable forcutting two dimensional panels. Fibers splinter off in the processresulting in sharp edges, loose fibers in the atmosphere and onsurfaces, which must be removed, and sometimes inconsistent rough cuts.

According to embodiments of the present disclosure, a threedimensionally shaped, fiber reinforced polymer composite matrix footwearupper can be produced by utilizing a knitting machine, and with no humanintervention to cut, shape, and or prepare the material for the moldingprocess.

A three-dimensionally V-bed knitting process can create multiplestructures in the same panel, digitally programming specific structuresof differing construction, varying thickness, and may also deployvarying resin impregnated materials. Multiple types of fibers may alsobe utilized in the same knitting process, including for instance coated,enameled, wrapped, shielded, and other types of wire assemblies.Openings, pockets, appendages, sub structures and liners can also beknitted in the same knitting process. Appendage, liner, or reinforcementstructured fabric can be aligned and pressed together into zones, withor without the addition of an adhesive and or thermoplastic strand toconstitute a strategically plied group of layers or zones to create thethree-dimensionally shaped seamless unitarily constructed footwearupper.

Referring to FIG. 7A, the upper construction may include separatesmaller components by knitting in separating strands (e.g., live hinge44) to connect successive layers of a three-dimensionally shapedfootwear upper. Flex joints, live-hinges, waste areas, buffer material,and other structures may be used to make the resulting upper appendagesand zones fold, flex, and bend like an accordion. In this way, the upperconstruction is ready for pre-stacking (lay-up) in the compositefabrication process. Where a portion of the upper is knitted with a dryreinforced fiber, or a pre-resinized fiber is knitted to the requiredshape of the mold, (typically this is the appendage), a buffer materialmay be knitted between the components to protect the rest of the upperstructure from the heat of the composite post process. For example, thebuffer material may be Kevlar, which is heat resistant to 600 degreesFahrenheit, or a sacrificial yarn which evaporates or melts away withheat.

Should a wire or electronic component need to be embedded into the upperduring the knitting process and additionally protected and or securedduring the composite post process, specific materials (such as Kevlar,ceramics, or other materials) may create an internal liner pocket,pouch, tube, and or cushion to withstand the applied environmentalelements of the post process, and thereby protect the electroniccomponent or wiring.

There are numerous methods for fabricating composite components to meetspecific design or manufacturing challenges faced with fiber-reinforcedpolymers. Selection of a method for a particular upper performancecharacteristic, therefore, will depend on the materials, the upperdesign and function, shape, and or application. According to embodimentsof the present disclosure, an upper can be made ready to shape for thecomposite process.

After the knitting step (and optionally with the use of fiber-reinforcedcomposite uppers or components and resinizing process), any appendageswhich are destined for the interior of the upper are folded inside,secured and in many cases finished. Any appendages which are destinedfor the exterior are folded onto the upper surface, secured and in manycases finished. If there is an attached knitted insole construction,(e.g., FIG. 8A), the component is pushed inward into the upper. Any solecomponents are pushed outward.

The fully shaped upper is then slip lasted, or attached onto a liner(e.g., Strobel) material, effectively closing the bottom of the shoeduring the lasting process, and bottomed with a sole structure, whichmay also have been attached in the knitting process, heated, and cured.This forms the completed shoe.

Embodiments of the present disclosure can advantageously eliminate thecutting process, optimize efficient use of materials while lesseningscrap, greatly reduce the stitching steps over a semi-finished upper,minimize the potential of human error associated with managing thematerial supply chain in the production process, align relatedcomponents as attached assemblies, and create a strong double-bedfabricated shoe as compared to current half-gauge upper constructions.By creating a finished double-bed shoe upper in three dimensions, anintegrated knitting process according to embodiments of the presentdisclosure can advantageously eliminate many steps as used in theconventional shoe manufacturing process, and greatly reduce additionalmaterials needed to complete and strengthen a semi-finished upper orhalf-gauge upper assembly. By knitting all the appendages as attachedassemblies, retooling of the manufacturing process can be significantlyreduced, and costs associated with creating new designs and varying shoeconfigurations are also reduced.

In some embodiments, the computer program that controls the knittingprocess is reconfigured for each change in design and a separate gradedprogram is used for each desired shoe size. Similarly, rather thanwarehousing and maintaining many ready-made materials, fabric, foams,and liners to create upper sub-assemblies, solely upper material yarns(“strands”) are kept in inventory to accommodate desired changes instyle.

From the perspective of manufacturing, utilizing multiple materials ofdiffering properties and performance features, and then cutting, sewing,and constructing them into an article of footwear, can be a wasteful,labor intensive, and inefficient practice. For example: the variousmaterials utilized in a conventional upper may be obtained in a varietyof widths, lengths, thicknesses, densities, and packaging arrangement.The materials may be from a single supplier or many suppliers all overthe world. Accordingly, a manufacturing facility must coordinate,inspect, inventory, and stock specific quantities of ready-made rollgood materials (“yardage”), with each material being a static designcreated by suppliers that may have distinct seasonal and trendperishability. The various raw good materials may also requireadditional machinery to prepare, inspect, or they may requiresub-assembly line techniques to cut or otherwise prepare the materialfor incorporation into the footwear. In addition, incorporating separatematerials into an upper may involve a plurality of distinctmanufacturing steps requiring significant planning, staging, labor,space, and resources to integrate into the manufacturing process, thencollect and dispatch the scrap.

Weft or V-bed knitting a fully shaped three-dimensional footwear upperwith completely finished edges needs stocking of yarn and or strandmaterials only. The fabric is created at the same time as the product isknit, with only a few strands of waste (sacrificial strands). Thedesigns, colors, textures, jacquards, performance characteristics, andany combinations of options may be changed at will by manipulating thecomputer program. Attaching appendage components in thethree-dimensional knitting process, such as inner sole, toereinforcement, heel attachment, and/or including the sole assembly needsstocking of yarn and or strand materials only and assures matchingmaterial lots are used throughout the knitting process in an efficient,consistent, precise, and repeatable manner.

In some embodiments, a seamless flat knitted upper may be knitted as asingle unit (e.g., as shown in FIG. 9A), or one of a strip of connecteduppers (e.g., as shown in FIG. 9B) that are daisy-chained-togethersequentially with a minimal waste segment separating them. Multipleuppers with various sizes and configurations may be knitted one at atime or as a strip of daisy-chained sequentially knitted uppers.

All of these shaped knitted components and or assemblies of a seamlessknitted footwear upper are formed contiguous and continuous with oneanother, being formed from the plurality of strands that make up theunitary textile material. Indeed, many of the individual strands canspan the length of the footwear upper from the toe to the heel and canbe inter-looped in specific regions of the footwear upper, therebyforming and becoming integrated with the varying knit patterns of thefootwear upper. Thus, as one example, a knitting machine can interloop afirst strand with a second strand near the toe. The first strand cancontinue into a vertical element through the eyelet and ankle area. Inthe ankle area, that strand can be inter-looped or combined withadditional strands within the knit pattern to form cushioning. The samestrand can extend into and be inter-looped with yet other strands toprovide reinforcement in the knit pattern in the heel. The same strandcan extend along the entire footwear upper with minimal waste. Thismethod of manufacturing reduces the wastage of the elemental yarnmaterials, by utilizing the same yarns throughout the knitting process,creating completely finished edges of the shoe upper, requiring nocutting, sewing, or trimming of the upper, and having nearly zero waste.

As mentioned above, a knitting process according to embodiments of thepresent disclosure produces the entire body of a footwear upper in aunitary construction being fully shaped, seamless and three-dimensional.The body in the unitary construction includes mid-foot, lateral andmedial sides, heel, ankle areas, respective ankle curves and as well asthe varying components of the footwear upper in their zones with theirrespective structures and patterns. The entire footwear body can beformed in an automated manner, without any direct manual, humanmanipulation of any strands in the upper.

The unitary construction of the fully shaped three-dimensional footwearupper's material fabric and/or knit configuration, and in particular itsmultiple strands, can be mechanically and automatically manipulated toprovide varying knit patterns. During the knitting process, the knittingmachine effectively knits a plurality of strands individually and/orcollectively so as to form the varying regions of the fully shapedthree-dimensional footwear upper in a unitary construction, for example,the first knit region of the toe, the second knit region the instep, theeyelets, the curved edges of the ankle, the heel and/or heel attachmentarea, as well as the manipulates the end stitches of the heel to attachto the corresponding opposite side.

In some embodiments, a majority of the mid-foot and toe regions can beweft knitted, and can include multiple structural elements, such asvertical tubular, horizontal inlay, vertical inlay elements, and eyeletsas described above. The knitting machine creates all of these pluralcomponents and patterns in an automated process using multiple needlesthrough which the yarn, filament, inlay, extrusion or other element aredispensed and included in the fully shaped three-dimensional footwearupper. Effectively, the plurality of strands are put in place viamechanical manipulation of the respective needles of the knittingmachine, within the three-dimensional footwear upper. None of thestrands are subject to direct manual human manipulation to form theupper body, nor are any of its three-dimensional shapes, shapeassemblies, and or components.

The knitting machine can be configured to receive a plurality ofstrands, which are spooled on respective cones or other materialpackaging. The individual cones, also referred to as spools herein, andvarying strands can be constructed from a variety of materials asfurther explained below, depending on the particular attributes andmechanical and/or physical properties of the three-dimensional footwearupper in certain regions. The respective cones each can be mounted insuch a way that the knitting machine can draw in stands of the materialfrom the respective cones.

In some embodiments, the V-bed knitting machine can include a pluralityof needles on several needle beds. These needles can be manipulated andcontrolled by actuating mechanisms further controlled by a controller.The controller can have preprogrammed knitting patterns stored inmemory. A user can select and/or program the controller so that itdirects the actuating mechanisms and thus the respective independentneedles to knit the strands in a particular pattern and/or within aparticular region.

Throughout the knitting process, the knitting machine may knit varyingregions and one or more stitch patterns. As mentioned above, it can knita first pattern, a second pattern, and successive patterns, forming theshaped structure of the upper therein, as well as the toe, toe cap,vamp, instep, tongue, eyelets, as well as the ankle pattern, boot shaft,heel, heel cap, medial side panel, lateral side panel, all regions, andassemblies needed to cover a foot. In constructing the varying stitchpatterns, the knitting machine can change the densities of variouselements. Particularly the machine can change the number of strands,courses (“rows”) and/or wales (“stitches”) in a given region as well asin adjacent, opposing, supportive, or other regions that make up thethree-dimensional footwear upper. For example, the knitting machine canmanipulate the strands so that the density of strands in the perimeteredge is less than the density in the mid-foot region and other regionsso as to accommodate easier sewing. The density of strands in the heelarea can likewise be greater than the density in the mid-foot and otherregions, to accommodate stiffness for keeping the foot from rolling offthe sole. The eyelet area can have a strand density that is greater thanthe mid-foot region, but perhaps similar to the density in the heelelements to help with lace wear and abrasion. With these varyingdensities, some regions of the three-dimensional footwear upper can bemore or less densely knitted compared to other regions. This can providedesired mechanical and/or physical properties of the three-dimensionalfootwear upper in those specific regions, and/or across thethree-dimensional footwear upper. For example, where it is more denselyknitted, the three-dimensional footwear upper can be more robust andrigid, limiting stretch. Where it is less dense, the three-dimensionalfootwear upper can be suppler, exhibiting stretch and recovery.

In some embodiments, these characteristics of suppleness and rigiditycan be altered in the three-dimensional footwear upper to accommodatewhen the upper is connected to a sole. In some cases, the upper can bestretched more in certain regions than in others, which can eitherincrease or decrease the rigidity and/or suppleness of thethree-dimensional footwear upper in the plurality of regions and withinthe varying knitted stitch patterns.

The three-dimensional footwear upper can include a variety ofcomponents, assemblies, sub-assemblies, appendages, interior andexterior regions that are constructed from one or a plurality of strandsof one or more materials having varying properties and or stitchdensities. To create such a three-dimensional footwear upper, theknitting machine can be set up so that the varying spools of materialinclude appropriate amounts of continuous strands of a first materialand a different second material, and perhaps many varying materials. Insome cases, the first material can be less elastic and more abrasionresistant and durable than the second material. One may be cutresistant, or thermoplastic, or embody other performancecharacteristics. Of course, the different materials may be constructedso that they have other particular mechanical, thermal, smart(‘e-textile”), elastic, and/or properties. As an example, a strand of afirst material, for example an ultra-high-molecular-polyethylene(“UHMWPE”) can be placed on the first spool. Strands of a secondmaterial, for example thermoplastic polymer can be placed on spools. Theknitting machine can pull strands from the first cone or spool andconstruct the toe area, the mid-foot area and/or the ankle area withthis plurality of strands. The knitting machine can separately pull thestrands of the second material off the cones or spools, respectively,and interloop them with the first strand. Thus, the strands in certainregions can be of one material or a combination of strands, which can beinterloped and connected directly with strands of the second material orcombination of strands in predefined locations.

In some embodiments, an automated footwear upper assembly machinedescribed herein (e.g., the Stoll CMS MTB knitting machine) can beconfigured to mechanically manipulate a strand drawn or pulled from aparticular spool to form a predefined three-dimensional shape in a firstunitary fully shaped three-dimensional footwear upper. This first strandcan be constructed from the second material, for example a thermoplasticpolymer. The machine also can make a second fully shapedthree-dimensional footwear upper body joined with the first fully shapedthree-dimensional footwear upper body, where both the first and secondfully shaped three-dimensional footwear upper bodies are constructedprimarily from the strand of the second material. If desired, themachine can be coupled to spools of other types of strands such as thoseconstructed from the first material, for example an elongated aromaticpolyamide strand. The automated machine also can interloop or otherwisejoin one or more strand of the first material with one or more strand ofthe second material.

All the strands can be used to form the knitted patterns of the toe, aswell as the knitted pattern of the heel, including the mid-foot and theankle area. The strands of the first material, however, as mentionedabove, can be used to manufacture the respective edges around the footbottom of those components. The edges, constructed from the plurality ofstrands of the first material, can interface or transition to the othercomponents such as the second knitted pattern for sewing ease, a thirdpattern for ankle cushioning, or a heel pattern for reinforcement. Atthe edges, the strands of the first material can be interloped andinterlaced directly with the knitted strands of the adjacent region ofthe second material. To achieve this, different needles of the machinecan feed and interloop the different materials in the respectivedifferent locations, and one of two needle beds and transfer cams maymove stitches from one area to another; one of two additional andalternative needle beds may attach loops from one location of fabricstructure to another. After a fully shaped three-dimensional footwearupper is completed by the knitting machine, it can be removed from theknitting machine and later joined with a liner and a sole configurationin a desired manner as described herein.

In some embodiments, the knitting machine can be programmed or otherwiseconfigured to generate individual self-contained fully shapedthree-dimensional footwear upper, or a daisy-chained strip of fullyshaped three-dimensional footwear uppers including first, second, third,and more, complete seamless three-dimensional footwear uppers, eachknitted in a manner similar to that described above.

As an example, the machine can knit a first fully shapedthree-dimensional footwear upper, second fully shaped three-dimensionalfootwear upper, and third fully shaped three-dimensional footwear upper,or any other number of fully shaped three-dimensional footwear upper(e.g., as shown in FIG. 9A). In some embodiments, each three-dimensionalfootwear upper knit pattern may be different from the patterns of therespective subsequent three-dimensional footwear uppers (e.g., as shownin FIG. 9C). Of course, the patterns can be changed to be similar tothose of the respective initial three-dimensional footwear upper ifdesired within the edge interface as well.

In some embodiments, the knitting machine, or other automated footwearassembly machine, can be controlled by the controller to produce thedaisy-chained strip of fully shaped three-dimensional footwear uppers.The controller can be any conventional processor, computer or othercomputing device. The controller can be electrically coupled to themachine, and can be communicatively coupled to a memory, a data storagemodule, a network, a server, or other construct that can store and/ortransfer data. That data can be any particular type of data related tofootwear uppers, such as: footwear design configurations, knitted stitchtype preference data, brand upper configuration preference data,available color/feeder/yarn selection data, image options, logo, text,graphics, available stitch types, style options, appendage options, sizegrade options, and other variations of footwear uppers. For example, thedata can be first fully shaped three-dimensional footwear upper datapertaining to one or more particular knitting patterns or other patternsassociated with and/or incorporated into the fully shapedthree-dimensional footwear upper. The fully shaped three-dimensionalfootwear upper data can be implemented, accessed and/or utilized by themachine, in the form of a code, program and/or other directive. Thefully shaped three-dimensional footwear upper data, when utilized withthe V-bed knitting machine, ultimately can result in various features inthe fully shaped three-dimensional footwear upper, such as: thepredefined three-dimensional shape; the position, dimension and/or depthof a heel; the position of an apex and curve of the ankle; the lengthand location of an instep with eyelets; the position and dimension ofvarious edges and calibration marks for sewing to the liner; theposition and dimension of a toe box, also referred to as a front toegather; the position and dimension the cushioning areas and/or lip edgeof the ankle; the side to side lateral stiffness of the heel; theminimum width of the fully shaped three-dimensional footwear upper; theside to side curvature of the mid-foot, toe, medial arch, lateral side,and the like.

In some embodiments, user preference data, can be automatically combinedwith the fully shaped seamless three-dimensional footwear upper data bythe V-bed knitting machine or a computer coupling system. The V-bedknitting machine or computer coupling system also automatically convertsthe user selection data into the form of a code or set of data codes toexecute the user's desired modifications to the seamlessthree-dimensional upper computerized knitting program; the V-bed machineaccesses the converted data code to create knitting productioninstructions, which are then accessed and implemented by the V-bedknitting machine to create one or more desired customized aestheticvariations and or customized functional variations of the originalseamless three-dimensional upper.

The controller can access the fully shaped three-dimensional footwearupper production data to thereby control the V-bed knitting machine andproduce a single unit or a strip of fully shaped three-dimensionalfootwear uppers, sequentially, in a desired number and configuration.Each of the fully shaped three-dimensional footwear uppers can include asubstantially identical predefined three-dimensional shape, and can havevirtually identical physical features, such as those enumerated above inconnection with the fully shaped three-dimensional footwear upper data,or a series of varying three-dimensional uppers, from a production cuein the V-bed knitting machine's master computer and or a computercoupling system. Alternatively, when the machine is configured toproduce only a single fully shaped three-dimensional footwear upper, themachine, as controlled by the controller, can utilize the first fullyshaped three-dimensional footwear upper data to produce a fully shapedthree-dimensional footwear upper having features that correspond to thefirst fully shaped three-dimensional footwear upper data.

In turn, a user can experiment with different fully shapedthree-dimensional footwear upper profiles, sizes, and/or styles, andselect one that best suits his or her preferences as described above. Inaddition, a particular preference profile of a user can be stored in adatabase. When the user wears out a footwear upper, the user can requestan identical one to be reproduced by using the stored preferenceprofile. This can enhance the comfort of the user. Also, the user neednot go through extensive selection process to locate a fully shapedthree-dimensional footwear upper that performs as desired. Instead, uponpurchase of the new fully shaped three-dimensional footwear uppercombination, the fully shaped three-dimensional footwear upper willconsistently perform as expected.

According to the conventional art, when producing an individual unit ora connected strip of: cut and sew squares to die cut footwear uppers,two-dimensional shaped footwear uppers, or three dimensionalsemi-finished footwear uppers, the individual pieces or semi-finisheduppers can be separated from one another in a variety of manners, all ofwhich typically require a waste section to be knitted at the start ofeach individual unit or the connected strip of units, at the end and inbetween each individual unit and successive unit.

According to embodiments of the present disclosure, the method ofmanufacturing knitted fully shaped three-dimensional footwear uppers,the start, the bottom edge interface of the toe element and or anklesection is only a strand, or a couple strands of waste and a decouplingstrand, which protect the finished bottom edge (e.g., at the toe or theankle). In manufacturing an individual (single unit) fully shapedseamless three dimensional upper, the heel area has no edge interfaceand therefore no waste section.

For example, in manufacturing a daisy-chained strip of fully shapedthree-dimensional uppers, the heel area has edge interface strand thatprotects the finished edge interface strand links up to the bottom edge(“toe”) interface strands of the next fully shaped three-dimensionalfootwear upper. The two uppers are separated by a decoupling strand.This transition area can mimic or follow the curvature of the bottomedge (“toe”) of a particular fully shaped three-dimensional upper asdesired. Therefore, there is no waste fabric but only a few strands ofwaste per unit, which is less than 1% of the total weight of a fullyshaped three-dimensional footwear upper.

In one example, the respective edges, for example heel to toe, can bejoined with the edge interface strands in the form of a single pullstitch or strand. This pull stitch can be pulled by a machine or a humanoperator so that the respective edges separate from one another and/orthe edge interface, thereby allowing one fully shaped three-dimensionalfootwear upper to be removed from or dissociated from another. Likewise,the edge can include one or more pull strands that can be pulled via amachine or human operator to separate the lower edge from the edgeinterface.

In some cases, where the lower edge (“toe”) of one fully shapedthree-dimensional footwear upper is joined directly with the upper edge(“heel”) of another fully shaped three-dimensional footwear upper, apull strand at the edge interface can be pulled to separate the secondfully shaped three-dimensional footwear upper from the first fullyshaped three-dimensional footwear upper.

Another manner of separating the fully shaped three-dimensional footwearuppers from the daisy-chained strip can include the use of a decouplingelement. This decoupling element can decouple one fully shapedthree-dimensional footwear upper from the next, for example, at the edgeinterface or respective edges of the fully shaped three-dimensionalfootwear uppers. The decoupling device can include shears, pressurizedsteam or other separating devices or mechanisms, which cuts, pulls, ormelts the thermoplastic separation strands across the lower edge (“toe”)of each fully shaped three-dimensional footwear upper. In so doing,those shears cut, the pressurized steam melts or evaporates off, thenext adjacent and/or successive fully shaped three-dimensional footwearupper. The decoupling element can make multiple cuts, multiple pulls, orsteaming traverses, one adjacent the upper edge (“heel”) of eachsuccessive fully shaped three-dimensional footwear upper and/or adjacentthe lower edge (“toe”) of the each successive fully shapedthree-dimensional footwear upper. In cases where the edge interfaceelement is only a strand wide or a couple strands wide, the decoupler(e.g., 44 in FIG. 7B) can cut or steam melt across this edge interface,thereby separating the respective edges of the third and second fullyshaped three-dimensional footwear uppers.

From there, the fully shaped three-dimensional footwear uppers can bedropped into a bin or other container for further processing on anindividual basis. In some embodiments, a continuous strip of multiplefully shaped three-dimensional footwear uppers can be rolled on a spooland delivered to a manufacturer who can then mechanically or manuallydisassociate the individual footwear uppers from the daisy-chainedstrip.

Upon the decoupling of the individual fully shaped three-dimensionalfootwear, each of the fully shaped three-dimensional footwear upperssubstantially retains its predefined three-dimensional shape. Forexample, even upon decoupling, the individual uppers will retain theconcavity of the concave shape and/or contour of the toe, mid-foot,instep, ankle and heel. Retaining its shape assures that the fullyshaped three-dimensional footwear upper fits consistently onto the last,into other post-processing tools in the case of fiber-reinforced-polymermaterials, and into sewing equipment that is required for manufacturingthe finished article of footwear (“shoe”) repeatedly and consistently.

The footwear uppers formed in a daisy-chained strip form (e.g., as shownin FIG. 9C) can have varying widths. For example, the machine can varythe widths of the fully shaped three-dimensional footwear uppers in thechain according to the corresponding shoe sizes. For example, themachine can mechanically manipulate strands to generate fully shapedthree-dimensional footwear uppers along the strip that have a width attheir outermost lateral boundaries of a large size shoe, perhaps a men'ssize 22. Although the maximum width is the width of the needle beds inthe machine, typically size 22 in humans is generally the maximum widthof the fully shaped three-dimensional footwear uppers' strip, and alongits length there is no limit. This maximum width can correspond to theregion of the fully shaped three-dimensional footwear uppers as measuredacross the instep at the widest part of the toe flexion. It also can bethe maximum of width of any individual fully shaped three-dimensionalfootwear upper that is formed along the daisy-chained strip. The machinealso can mechanically manipulate the strands and the overall width ofthe daisy chained strip so that the fully shaped three-dimensionalfootwear uppers daisy-chained strip includes a second width, which isless than the first width. The second width can correspond generally tothe region of the fully shaped three-dimensional footwear uppers nearthe heel, heel tab and/or other rearward appendage.

By precisely knitting the daisy-chained strip in the respective fullyshaped three-dimensional footwear uppers therein, minimal waste isgenerated from the process. This is true even when the individual fullyshaped three-dimensional footwear uppers and the daisy-chained stripwidth varies. According to the conventional art, without the knittingmachine knitting a fully shaped three-dimensional footwear upper as aunit, or with the edge interface strand, the material that is knittedbetween the maximum width and the smaller width with off the shelfmachine builder software and CAD would otherwise be removed anddiscarded as waste. Further, to remove this material would typicallyrequire additional machinery and/or human intervention or manipulation.With regard to durability, an upper formed entirely in one piece has noseam weakness or failure points.

With regard to comfort, an upper formed entirely in one piece has noseam irritation or pressure points.

In some embodiments, to impart other properties to the fully finishedthree-dimensionally knitted footwear, including durability,flex/recovery, and stretch-resistance, additional materials can becombined or integrated in the knitting process. The materials may bereflective, cut resistant, thermoplastic, insulating, adhesive,reinforcing, cushioning, aesthetic, and/or conductive, for example.Three-dimension knitting an upper to shape allows integrating specificmaterials into areas, the ability to transition seamlessly or blend thereinforcement, stretch or other specific performance features, intoregions to: reinforce against abrasion or other forms of wear; provideseamless fit; create areas of dynamic stretch resistance and orlimitation of other performance features; better secure the upper to thesole without potential seam failure points; and reduce waste ofmaterials.

In some embodiments, a three-dimensional double-knit fabric insert(e.g., a supportive panel) is knitted on a four-needle bed machine andseamlessly inserted into, and or joins the facets of, anotherdimensional panel or component knitted in the same knitting process. Theinsert can be inserted at a greater angle than common short rowing,where that angle is a steep, right, and or an obtuse angle, such as theheel component described above to fit the anatomy of the foot. Forproduction of a wide range of articles, a three-dimensional insert (as asupportive panel) can be knitted on a four-needle bed machine andseamlessly inserted into another dimensional panel knitted in the sameknitting process. Examples of the articles include, but not limited to:footwear, socks, pants, shirts, jackets hats, gloves, as well as otherarticles. Other examples of articles include, but are not limited to:protective equipment such as shin guards, knee pads, elbow pads,shoulder pads, as well as any other type of protective equipment.Additionally, in some embodiments, the article could be another type ofarticle including, but not limited to: bags (e.g., messenger bags,laptop bags, etc.), purses, duffel bags, backpacks, as well as otherarticles that may or may not be worn such as vehicle interiorcomponents, home or office seating, vehicle exterior panelconstructions, architectural building panels, smart textiles foraerospace, and other applications.

While various embodiments have been described, the description isintended to be an example, rather than limiting, and it will be apparentto those of ordinary skill in the art that many more embodiments,configurations, and implementations are possible, and are within thescope of the embodiments. Accordingly, the embodiments are not to berestricted except in light of the attached claims and their equivalents.Also, various modifications and changes may be made within the scope ofthe attached claims.

Although certain preferred embodiments and methods have been disclosedherein, it will be apparent from the foregoing disclosure to thoseskilled in the art that variations and modifications of such embodimentsand methods may be made without departing from the spirit and scope ofthe invention. It is intended that the invention shall be limited onlyto the extent required by the appended claims and the rules andprinciples of applicable law.

1. (canceled)
 2. A method of manufacturing footwear articles, the methodcomprising: knitting an upper in a knitting process using a knittingmachine comprising a plurality of needle beds, the upper comprised of aplurality of portions; knitting an insert in the knitting process, theinsert having loops; manipulating the insert in the knitting process;moving stitches for one of the plurality of portions from a first needlebed of the plurality of needle beds to a second needle bed of theknitting machine and subsequently attaching the loops of the insert toexisting loops located on at least one of the plurality of portions ofthe upper; and attaching the upper with an outsole.
 3. The method ofclaim 2, further comprising: joining integrated fiber reinforcedcomponents in the knitting process; and folding one or more of theintegrated fiber reinforced components in or on top of a body portion ofthe plurality of portions of the upper.
 4. The method of claim 3,further comprising: knitting an integrated sole component that is joinedto a heel portion of the plurality of portions of the upper.
 5. Themethod of claim 3, further comprising: knitting an attached insolecomprised of an auxetic material that is attached to at least one of theplurality of portions of the upper.
 6. The method of claim 3, furthercomprising: incorporating a monofilament or a thermal plastic strandthat spans an instep portion of the plurality of portions of the upperand migrates to both a toe portion and a heel portion of the pluralityof portions of the upper.
 7. The method of claim 3, further comprising:knitting one or more upper attachments that are joined to at least oneof the plurality of portions of the upper; folding the one or more upperattachments onto an upper surface of the upper and/or folding the one ormore upper attachments into an interior of the upper; and securing theone or more upper attachments to the upper subsequent to the folding. 8.The method of claim 2, further comprising: obtaining one or morespecialized materials that are wound on a spool; unwinding the one ormore specialized materials from the spool without causing torque on theone or more specialized materials; and incorporating the one or morespecialized materials into one or more portions of the plurality ofportions of the upper through the knitting process.
 9. The method ofclaim 8, wherein the incorporating of the one or more specializedmaterials comprises: using a first material strand of the one or morespecialized materials having a first performance characteristic; andusing a second material strand of the one or more specialized materialshaving a second performance characteristic that differs from the firstperformance characteristic to vary a particular mechanical, thermal,smart and/or elastic property within the one or more portions of theplurality of portions of the upper through the knitting process.
 10. Themethod of claim 9, further comprising: interlooping the first materialstrand with the second material strand such that the one or portions ofthe plurality of portions of the upper formed through the knittingprocess comprises a combination of the first performance characteristicand the second performance characteristic.
 11. The method of claim 8,wherein the knitting of the upper in the knitting process using theknitting machine further comprises: knitting the upper into a pluralityof layers and stacking each of the plurality of layers with respect toone another; and varying a performance characteristic between each ofthe plurality of layers such that each layer comprises a specificperformance and/or aesthetic characteristic.
 12. The method of claim 11,further comprising: forming a pocket within at least one of theplurality of layers; and integrating an electronic device within thepocket of the upper such that the electronic device is capable ofinteracting with another layer of the plurality of layers.
 13. Themethod of claim 12, further comprising: using a heat-resistant materialfor the forming of the pocket, thereby protecting the integratedelectronic device during application of heat during post processes forthe upper.
 14. The method of claim 11, further comprising: knittingmagnetic strands into a first one of the plurality of layers; knittingferrofluid coated strands into a second one of the plurality of layers,the second one of the plurality of layers differing from the first oneof the plurality of layers; and activating the magnetic strands and theferrofluid coated strands such that the upper varies how the upperappears in a radar scan.
 15. The method of claim 11, further comprising:knitting a first material used in construction of the upper to guide,absorb or reflect electro-magnetic waves.
 16. The method of claim 2,wherein the knitting of the upper in the knitting process using theknitting machine may be controlled by a first set of computerinstructions for execution by the knitting machine and the methodfurther comprises: combining user preference data associated withdesired modifications to the upper with the first set of computerinstructions and generating a combined set of computer instructions thatincludes the user preference data for execution by the knitting machine;and executing the combined set of computer instructions for the knittingof the upper with the desired modifications to the upper.
 17. The methodof claim 16, wherein the executing of the combined set of computerinstructions for the knitting of the upper with the desiredmodifications to the upper further comprises: varying an upper profile,an upper size, and/or an upper style as compared with the knitting ofthe upper using the first set of computer instructions.
 18. The methodof claim 17, wherein the executing of the combined set of computerinstructions for the knitting of the upper with the desiredmodifications to the upper further comprises: knitting a series ofuppers, with each of the uppers in the series of uppers being linked toone another with a strand.
 19. The method of claim 18, wherein theknitting of the series of uppers further comprises: knitting a firstupper in the series of uppers; and knitting a second upper in the seriesof uppers, the second upper comprising a customized aesthetic variationand/or a customized functional variation of the first upper.
 20. Themethod of claim 16, further comprising: accessing the combined set ofcomputer instructions; and providing an option to produce a single unitof the upper with the desired modifications to the upper or a strip ofuppers with the desired modifications to the upper.
 21. The method ofclaim 16, wherein the knitting of the upper with the desiredmodifications to the upper comprises: knitting the upper with acustomized aesthetic variation and/or a customized functional variationas compared with the knitting of the upper using the first set ofcomputer instructions.